Love Yourself Pink Juice

With great respect and love, I honor my heart: my inner teacher. Namaste.

I learned this simple prayer in my new weekly yoga class, Living Room Yoga with Lisa Enzer. At the beginning of each practice we repeat the prayer three times to help center us in the body and open our hearts to the benefits of our efforts.

I love saying these words at the start of yoga practice, and remembering them throughout the day. For truly, the heart is our inner teacher. With compassion and kindness it guides us, it speaks to us, it heals us - if only we will listen.

Love is far more than the romantic notion of fairy tale constructs as served up by culture and society. Love in its highest form is pure bliss energy, union with the divine, a state far beyond the realm of earthly passion!

To become fully realized human beings, we need to immerse ourselves in the energy of love and loving ourselves comes first. By loving ourselves, we become healthy and complete – in body, mind and spirit. Loving ourselves means to do no harm to self or others, to act always in our highest good. Loving ourselves allows us to become whole, and from this place of wholeness, to reach out to the world, to help others, to give service in a manner that will be truly meaningful and beneficial.

Sometimes, to love ourselves we must turn away from relationships or situations that fail to serve our health and happiness. This may be painful, for all parties involved. But if the motivation is pure, the outcome will be positive and healing to everyone. You cannot truly love another unless you love yourself.

One way to love yourself is to nourish your body with the freshest, healthiest living food in the world - starting with plenty of crisp, juicy fruits and vegetables. Eat them every way possible: whole, chopped in salads, blended in soups and smoothies and freshly pressed into juice. As a healing food, fresh raw vegetable juice is the supreme elixir of vitality.

Fresh juice can be made with any combination of veggies, plus apples or other fruit added for sweetness if desired. Usually I like to drink super-alkalizing Green Juice, but in honor of Valentine's Day, I've created a Pink Juice made with all the ingredients pictured below.

As you can see, my pink juice gets its tantalizing color from just a touch of ruby red beet along with a larger proportion of a few basic, inexpensive ingredients. Add more beets and you'll have red juice! Pink or red, this liquid sunshine will please your tender heart as well as your thirsty taste buds. May it help you to embrace the spirit of Valentine's Day and love yourself more deeply than ever, today and every day.

Love Yourself Pink Juice

1 bunch celery
5 good-sized carrots
2 small beets or equivalent
1 granny smith apple
1 lime, peeled and pitted

Put everything through your juicer and enjoy.
Makes about one pint (two cups) of gorgeous pink juice.